


You're My Best Friend

by illyalien



Category: Original Work, Starry-eyed
Genre: Crush, F/M, Pining, Someone help him honestly, This is getting embarassing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 09:11:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15482490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illyalien/pseuds/illyalien
Summary: At the realization that he might like his friend a little more than originally thought, Jonas is freaking out a little bit. Featuring: hormones. Lots of hormones.





	You're My Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> dear lord someone help these kids.  
> (characters are from my story "Starry-Eyed")

“You know, Valdez, you can stop staring at me any time now.”

The voice that Jonas recognized as Connie broke him out of his mid-class daydreaming. He blinked to clear his sight, and Connie Xiang’s round face came into focus, her expression knotted up in concern. Or amusement; it was getting hard to tell these days.

He mumbled an apology under his breath and attempted to focus. They sat at the same table in math now, which would have been a wonderful opportunity to make her face go adorably red if she wasn’t doing the exact same thing to him.

She shrugged and went back to work on the assignment. Jonas never thought of math as his academic strong suit, but it was going to take twice as long to finish the worksheet in front of him with Connie in his field of vision. Not that it was her fault, of course; Jonas wholeheartedly blamed his hormonal teenage boy brain for this newest development of feelings for one of his best friends.  _ One of your  _ only _ friends _ , he reminded himself when he snuck another longing glance at Connie. It was definitely not her fault that he was staring, especially because he had no right. She was just wearing her school uniform, but had layered a navy blue cardigan over the white collared shirt instead of the stiff blazer that Jonas was wearing. Regardless, Connie looked good in  _ anything _ .

_ One of your _ only _ friends, _ his mind echoed, and Jonas mentally slapped himself. It was enough to yank Jonas back down to his present. He didn’t like the present very much, not when it involved pretending that he wasn’t hopelessly, desperately in love with the girl sitting across from him.

He shuddered. The idea that preoccupying himself with work to forget about Connie seemed like an unlikely success.

A piece of paper slid into his view, and he looked up to see Connie wrinkling her nose like she always did when she was frustrated about something. He knew the feeling.  _ Adorable, _ his heart sung.

“I need a little help on this problem.” She gestured to the triangle on the paper. “Cosine equals… sorry, I’m a little rusty at this.”

They had just come back from a rather exciting winter break, so Jonas didn’t blame her, especially considering that he too was “a little rusty”.

He turned the paper so that they could both see it while he helped her through the problem, although he didn’t quite understand it himself. He wished that Mona was here, at least then he would have someone to help out if he ended up bullshitting too hard.

“Thanks,” she muttered when he slid the paper back to her, the corners of her mouth perking up a little. Jonas grit his teeth and smiled back, holding the groan that was building in the back of his through from escaping.  _ Don’t make it weird, do  _ not _ make it weird-- _

“Hey Valdez,” he heard from behind him. Jonas sighed with immense relief, turning around to see Vieira holding up a Christmas-looking card. He raised a brow and moved his chair so that he was facing her fully. The fire-engine red haired girl had to bend down in order to hand Jonas the card, she was just that tall.  _ Must be an advantage on the track… _

“Hey Vieira.” He took the card from her, opening it and nodding thoughtfully at the late holiday wishes. The track star had all but vanished on the last day of term, so Jonas didn’t get to give her a present like he had done for the rest of his friends. Although, the only way that Jonas even knew Vieira was the fact that they both spent their Wednesday lunches in her uncle’s classroom for group therapy, talking about their feelings. Jonas felt like that still counted. “Thanks.”

She flashed him a thumbs up and grinned. He half-expected her to go away, but instead she pulled up a chair at their table and sat down. Vieira was actually pretty smart, which came in handy when Jonas didn’t know what he was doing. Which was most of the time.

“Need help with anything?” asked Vieira, gesturing to the worksheet. Jonas looked down and groaned. They had a half-hour left in class, and Jonas had barely gotten through the first ten problems. “I already finished so…” She tapped her chin in thought, and raised a single, mocking eyebrow.

Jonas slid the paper over in defeat, listening carefully to Vieira explain the problems to him, although he couldn’t help but steal glances at Connie while she worked. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a ponytail, her blunt bangs falling in her face while she trudged through the problems. Her freckles had become fainter from the lack of sunshine outside, but she still had plenty of constellations on her face. She pursed her lips when she came to a difficult problem, and while it had always been amusing to see Connie so frustrated, there was something different about it now. He swallowed hard, letting the sinking feeling build in his stomach.

It was something  _ adorable _ .

* * *

The two had taken up the routine of walking back to Connie’s apartment building together when her sister didn’t bother to show. Olive Xiang was a lot of things, but punctual was not one of them.

“She’s working late again,” Connie groaned when she finally checked her text messages. School had just ended, and while Jonas had promised his mom that he would help make dinner, he had about an hour to burn before he had to be home. Besides, Mona was out of town, so there was no hero work on the agenda. Unless of course Mona decided to make a long-distance request, in which case: Jonas was all in.

He shrugged and started down the steps to the school, the tell-tale sound of Connie trotting behind him filling him with something akin to satisfaction. She still had her phone out, and was updating her blog, no doubt. He heard the  _ ping! _ that signified a new message as she walked up to his side, her two strides matching every one of his. He had never realized how much fun it was to have short friends before Connie. He had never really  _ had  _ friends before Connie, but that was a grim thought that he preferred to ignore.

They walked in near silence all the way up to the doors of the tan brick building. There were so many windows that Jonas could see the reflection of the afternoon sky behind them. Connie picked up her pace as they entered the building, waving “hello” to the guy at the desk before making a beeline for the elevators. Jonas waved to the guy as well, although he only got an amused smirk in response. Jonas felt a blush creep up his neck, and he already knew his ears were pink from the cold. He followed Connie to the elevator, his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him.

* * *

Compared to Jonas’ apartment, which was always clean from the amount of time his brothers insisted on tidying up for their mom, Connie’s home was a pig stye.  _ It’s just cluttered _ , the kinder part of him offered, but that was an understatement. It was very clear that neither of Connie’s sisters had any desire to impress any incoming guests, although Connie herself was a little more self-conscious.

For all the times he had been to her apartment (eight, not that he was counting), Jonas had only ever been in her room once. He supposed that was a good thing, she was always talking his ear off about how she needed to reorganize the bookshelves, or that her desk was a complete mess. It had painted a rather vivid image in his mind, and Jonas didn’t want to accidentally say anything to offend her, although he had already done such a great job of it in the past.

“Hey Etta,” Connie called from the doorway. A head of dark-brown hair that was kept out of her face by little clips peeked out of the kitchen entryway, and Jonas was met by the smiling face of Etta Xiang. She had turned thirteen only a week beforehand, so Jonas was sure to wish her a belated happy birthday before following Connie to the couch.

“You can stay as long as you want,” said Connie, kicking off her shoes. She went to grab the remote before pausing and looking up at him. “I know your mom would throw a fit if you were late for dinner, though.”

Jonas shifted on his feet awkwardly and nodded, sitting down on the couch anyways. Her house had always been more comfortable than his, although he couldn’t place  _ why _ exactly. It was more cramped, that was for sure, but maybe it was the fact that the apartment wasn’t so hospital-like. Having two parents that were doctors seemed to leak into his life in more than a few ways. One being that he never had the opportunity to fake a sick day, and two being that his house was the epitome of “stiff”.

Connie let her hair out of the ponytail, letting the brown waves cascade past her shoulders. He had offered to help cut it a while back, to which he only got an icy glare in return. She swung her legs over his lap, and leaned back against the arm of the sofa before turning on the TV. She flicked through a few channels before settling on a news channel that was covering an interview with one of the city’s heroes. He didn’t catch the name, nor did he care all that much. The only hero he really cared about was himself and Mona, but considering how Connie’s face lit up when she talked about heroes, he kept his mouth shut.

He kept his eyes trained on the screen for another half-hour before his brother, Mark, texted him. Jonas looked down at his phone and sighed.

“Time to go?” she asked, pausing the TV.

Jonas nodded and stood up from the couch. He grabbed his shoes, and wished the girls a good night. He left the apartment building a little faster than he would have liked to admit, but neither of them seemed to notice his haste. He didn’t wave to the front desk this time, and walked into the cool January air, relishing the way that the cold nipped at his skin. 

His phone pinged again, and he checked it to see that Connie wanted him to text her when he got home safe. He bit his lip, feeling his heart thundering in his chest. The flush on his cheeks was from more than just the cold, he realized.

_ Connie Xiang, _ he thought hopelessly,  _ you are amazing _ .


End file.
